Bacon avocado

10 responses

Yage starts with ... Hi,

I live in Mentone Victoria 3194. I recently bought a Bacon avocado tree from garden world. After I planted for about 6 weeks, it's leaves go yellow and drop off. It appears that it is dying. I water it twice every day. Am I doing the right thing? Can anyone kindly help?

Markmelb says... Hi Jacob
You dont have enough information about your Bacon - Pictures would help too.
Theres alot of seriously good information on Daleys including How To Videos etc. Im sure at least 95% of Avos dont get thru their first year when plonked in the ground - they are one of the hardest trees to succeed with but correct conditions arnt that hard to emulate - please update - Cheers

Linton says... Dear Jacob
The worst thing that Avocados don't like is having wet feet and if kept too wet the roots can rot. You could be watering it too much as twice a day seems excessive. What is your soil like as good drainage is essential.

It is best to build a mound in the soil and plant it on top. That way the water can drain away from the roots. I would suggest that you do not water it for awhile to let the soil dry a bit.
Cheers!

A.C says... Does the soil have lots of clay ?,its a killer for mangoes and avocados.Us Southerners have to work a little bit harder when trying to get Mangoes & Avocados to grow.I use potting mix plus 20% washed filling sand.Sand is the critical component as it sucks water from soggy wood chips and compost and drains the water away allowing roots to survive in a moist structure not a soggy one with clay.Do not add sand to clay soil it will solidify like concrete.Soil replacement will be the answer.

Markmelb says... Jacob - what Linton noted about watering & root rot is quite important - a tree can die even in Qld if submerged in water for 3 days. Best to not water until you see leaves starting to wilt then give a good drink.
Another normal occurance is older leaves yellow because Avocados use leaves for energy to grow flowers and to promote a new flush of leaves - so maybe yours is still quite ok - cheers Mark

Markmelb says... Good Jacob - with photos now we can work it out - you need to pot it back into a slightly bigger pot with premium mix and try and redevelope your spot with something like a mix of Amgrow wettasoil Mulch -- compost and premium potting mix like Debco for a 1mt dia circle about 250mm high for you - make your hole look like the mix it came from originally,I reckon a Bag of each as you dont need to add sand like we on clay do -- then cover with more Amgrow mulch or Lucern etc to help retain moisture then you wouldnt need to water as much
I think roots were shocked by the sandy media. Would be different if you maybe planted a seed direct?
Heres some pics of a recent 2 in a hole planting and my Lamb Hass 3 years old full of new set fruit. Note wind protection too.

A.C says... Ok soil is quite sandy.The other problem could be cool overnight temperatures.Are there large trees native or otherwise nearby?They emit growth inhibitors and some plants are very sensitive to this.I grow my subtropicals in my front yard near road.The bitumen heats air overnight to ward off frost burn and there are no large trees nearby.Ive found Avos mangos and bananas like warm overnight temperatures.

Waterfall says... Mine grow in sand too, they grow so fast its almost like a tomatoe or something. The best thing you can do is stop watering it so much, I don't know how much rainfall you are getting there but a couple of showers a week would be enough for you to not have to water. Sure if you get no rain all week and its really hot then give it some but twice a day will kill it for sure.

The crucial thing you are missing is mulch, avocados send up feeder roots usually on a dense forest floor with lots of decomposing leaves and worms, microrganisms etc. breaking it all down and releasing nutrients for the roots to feed on, I pull back the mulch on mine and there are roots everywhere just below the surface. Go get yourself a bag of sugar cane mulch from bunnings or a bail of lucerne hay if you can find it and make a 1m diameter mulch layer at least 10 - 15cm deep around the base of the tree. Wet it all down and it won't be long before it begins to break down replicating that forest floor.

A photo of mine at only 1 year old taken mid winter, its much bigger now.

Markmelb says... Waterfall - your sandy soil i think is alot different to the soil around our seside sandbelt as it originally grew tea tree and it really lacks organic matter and nutrients.

I helped develop soil for a planting for my friend with similar sandy loam and used above technique a year ago and they are establishing well and 2 were my own graftings. So a trio of Lamb Hass - Reed and a store bought Bacon.
(As my Bacon graft wasnt ready yet)

But yes I agree the top mulch is maybe almost the most important - in fact i net down all the fallen leaves during flowering as im sure alot of micro nutrient reside in those leaves - PH 5 to 5.5 also :)